


PB&J

by realityisoverrated



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, OFAE, inspired by wallflower (@arrowtweets) fanart, olicity - Freeform, olicity-fanwork-exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 14:33:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18523504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realityisoverrated/pseuds/realityisoverrated
Summary: After weeks of getting the silent treatment, Tommy tries to lure Oliver out to breakfast by sending him messages and pictures of how much fun he and Felicity are having. Oliver is still angry with Tommy and is refusing to take the bait.





	PB&J

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wallflower](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallflower/gifts).



> This work in part of the Olicity-Fanwork-Exchange and a gift for Wallflower (@arrowtweets on tumblr). 
> 
> Wallflower creates unique fanart and I selected the image found below as the inspiration for this story.  
> (https://arrowtweets.tumblr.com/post/174349279051/tommy-tries-a-new-way-to-get-oliver-the-results) 
> 
> Check out the other fanart from the exchange on Tumblr: https://olicity-fanwork-exchange.tumblr.com/

 Artwork by Wallflower

 

Verdant was closed for the night and the thumping dance music that had been audible in the basement was now silent. The cleaning crew had already been through and the sharp bite of disinfectant covered the smell of stale booze and too many bodies sweating.  Verdant’s revelers would think the club looked strange empty without strobing lights, but Felicity thought it looked wrong filled with people. The club was their cover and their protection and Oliver’s best friend stood guard over them every night. No one suspected that Oliver and Tommy were hiding a vigilante enterprise in the bowels of the popular nightclub.

Felicity waited in the shadows and watched as Tommy stood behind the bar counting cash from the register. He’d changed out of his suit and tie and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. A pair of reading glasses was perched on his nose and he kept pushing them up by the bridge as he moved through the receipts. Women, and some men, were constantly slipping Tommy their phone numbers on napkins. He always took the numbers with a flirty smile, but the numbers always got crumpled up and thrown into the trash. None of them knew the real Tommy was the slightly nerdy guy in the thick-framed glasses with the MBA he pretended not to have but was secretly proud of. It never ceased to amaze Felicity how quickly the Merlyn heir slipped in and out of the mask he wore. Instead of grease paint, Tommy’s mask consisted of a million-watt smile. Just as Oliver used his gravelly voice to intimidate and threaten, Tommy used his smile to disarm and distract. It was easy to see what drew the billionaires together in friendship. Oliver and Tommy shared many similarities beyond their womanizing reputations and love for a good party. Like Oliver, Tommy often showed his worst self to the world to protect himself. The more she got to know both men, the more she believed they only showed their true selves to each other. It was only recently that she felt like she’d been included in their inner circle.

“If you’re going to stare, the least you can do is buy me a drink,” Tommy said, as he placed cash into a bank deposit bag.

Felicity stepped out of the shadows and approached the bar, waving her cell back and forth. “I thought you wanted me to buy you breakfast.”

Tommy looked over her shoulder, the hope dimmed from his eyes and his shoulders sagged when he realized Oliver wasn’t with her.

“He’s got a lot on his mind,” Felicity said, feeling the need to apologize for her boyfriend. “He already headed home.”

Tommy smiled sadly. “That’s okay, you’re far better company and much prettier.”

Felicity snorted. “It’s sad when I pass for better company and we both know that you and Oliver are far prettier than me.”

“We are very pretty, but we don’t hold a candle to you,” he said with a wink. “Are you sure you don’t want to head home? You’ve had a long day too.”

Felicity climbed onto a stool and placed her elbows on the bar. She rested her chin on her hands as she watched Tommy fill out his bank deposit slip. “I overdid the coffee, I couldn’t sleep if I wanted to. Besides, I was promised pancakes and bacon.”

“There was a time when women answered my calls for things other than pancakes and bacon,” Tommy lamented.

“They would again if you texted someone other than me and Thea,” Felicity said gently. Oliver thought Tommy was still upset about what happened between them and Laurel, but Felicity suspected Tommy was looking for ways to punish himself for his father’s actions. Isolating himself from everyone but Felicity and the Queens seemed to be Tommy’s form of penance.

“Where too? The Unicorn or the Red Oak?” Tommy asked, naming two of Felicity’s favorite diners.

“Hmmm,” Felicity said, tapping her chin. She wasn’t sure which spot she was more in the mood for. “The Unicorn has the banana chocolate chip that I love, but the Red Oak has the banana fosters that I love.”

“You’re going to turn into a banana.” He held out his hand and helped her off the stool. “You have until I make the deposit to make up your mind.” Tommy held out his cell to take a selfie of them. “Smile. I want to make Ollie jealous.”

Felicity made kissy lips at Tommy’s phone. He tapped a message out on his cell as they crossed the dance floor.

“I don’t think he’ll change his mind,” Felicity told him as he held the door for her.

“You can’t blame a boy for trying,” Tommy said, locking Verdant’s door behind them.

 

Felicity hadn’t been able to make up her mind about where to have breakfast and remained silent when Tommy picked the Red Oak, even though he preferred the Unicorn. She suspected it was because the Red Oak was closer to Oliver’s apartment and he was holding out hope that Oliver would still come. Felicity had sent Oliver a text when they first arrived, but she hadn’t heard back from him.

The diner was mostly empty. An older man sat at the counter with a cup of coffee and a slice of pie. Dawn was more than an hour away and it was still as dark as midnight outside. Rain was streaking the large windows and the lights from the traffic signal were distorted on the pavement. Felicity wrapped her hands around her mug of hot chocolate. The combination of being dry and warm with the sound of the rain pelting the glass was making her feel sleepy.

“He’s avoiding me,” Tommy said, his gaze firmly planted on his cup of decaf.

Felicity tore her gaze from the window. “He’s not.” She felt guilty that the lie came so easily, but she didn’t want Tommy to feel bad. Oliver was angry, but he’d get over it - eventually.

Tommy looked up with surprise. Felicity hadn’t lied to him since Tommy found out Oliver’s green secret. “I threatened to steal his girl and even that wasn’t enough to get him to join us.”

“He’s tired,” Felicity said, ignoring Tommy’s attempt at humorous deflection. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “The new guy bringing guns into the city has Oliver, Dig, and Roy running all over town tracking down leads. He’s not avoiding you – he really is tired.”

“He’s angry with me,” Tommy said, leaning back against the booth.

Realizing Tommy wasn’t going to let the topic drop, she stopped pulling her punches. “You almost got yourself killed,” Felicity reminded him. “I’m not all that happy with you either.”

Tommy opened his mouth to defend himself when the waitress returned with his omelet and her pancakes. He waited until the waitress was out of earshot before he said, “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have known that the mayor is the one paying for all those guns.”

“You’re not trained to do this,” Felicity said.

“Neither were you when he sent you undercover to count cards,” Tommy replied angrily.

“I wasn’t alone. Oliver was right outside. You followed the mayor without telling anyone. You didn’t have backup. You’re lucky you got out of there with only a flesh wound,” Felicity replied.

Tommy had overheard a conversation at Verdant between two women who worked in the mayor’s office while they were sitting at the bar. The women were discussing meetings the mayor was taking and insisting they keep off his official calendar. Tommy had taken it upon himself to start following the mayor around town. One night he followed the mayor to Orchid Bay where he had a conversation in an alley with the man who was most likely running guns through the city. Tommy had managed to get a video of their meeting and send it to Felicity before he was discovered lurking in the shadows. He barely got away after a bullet grazed his upper arm.

The memory of Tommy falling down the last few steps into the basement was never far from Felicity’s mind. He’d been deathly pale and covered in blood when they managed to roll him onto his back. Diggle and Roy had been the ones to lift him off the floor and over to the medical table because Oliver had been shaking too hard to help. Once Tommy was out of danger, Oliver had exploded with anger. He’d been punishing Tommy with silence ever since. Her appetite gone, Felicity pushed her untouched plate away.

Tommy absently rubbed at his arm. “I was trying to help.”

“He doesn’t want to see you hurt,” Felicity said.

Tommy looked wounded by her comment. “Like we want to see him hurt?”

“Oliver doesn’t always see the irony of his hypocrisy,” Felicity said with a small smile.

“He’s always been stubborn.” Tommy ran his hands over his head. “Is he ever going to forgive me?”

The bell over the diner door jingled and Felicity smiled at the familiar figure standing by the hostess stand and brushing water from his closely cropped hair. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Tommy turned in his seat and they watched Oliver approach their table. “I thought you weren’t coming,” Tommy said in way of greeting.

Oliver hung up his leather jacket and slid into the booth next to Felicity. “You didn’t play fair. You said you were ordering the southwest omelet. I couldn’t stop thinking about it.” He picked up Felicity’s fork and reached across the table to cut off a piece of Tommy’s omelet and speared it along with a home fry. He hummed with satisfaction as he chewed the eggs and potato.

Tommy rolled his eyes as he pushed his plate between them. He reached over the booth behind them and retrieved a set of napkin wrapped cutlery that he handed to Felicity. He signaled to the waitress and ordered another omelet.

“What are we talking about?” Oliver asked as he moved Felicity’s pancakes closer to her.

“How stubborn you are,” Tommy said.

Oliver arched an eyebrow. “I’m stubborn? I believe you’re the one who slept outside in the rain and ended up in the hospital because you refused to ring the doorbell when you lost your house keys at Max Fuller’s pool party.”

“I was sixteen, drunk, and missing my pants. My dad would’ve killed me and then grounded me and then killed me again,” Tommy said around a mouthful of omelet.

“You ended up in the hospital?” Felicity asked with concern.

“Hypothermia,” Tommy said with a shrug.

“You still got grounded,” Oliver said.

“You got grounded after being hospitalized?” Felicity asked. She knew she shouldn’t be surprised by anything Malcolm Merlyn did. A man who was willing to commit mass murder was never going to be named father of the year.

“It was only for a month,” Tommy answered.

“He canceled Christmas,” Oliver grumbled.

“Who cancels Christmas?” Felicity said. She never celebrated the holiday, but from all the cartoons and movies she’d watched over the years, only Scrooge and the Grinch ever tried to cancel Christmas and even they never succeeded.

“He didn’t cancel Christmas. He didn’t let me go with Ollie on the Queen’s annual ski trip,” Tommy explained. “We still had Christmas.”

“We didn’t spend it together. It felt like Christmas was canceled,” Oliver pouted.

“I hope the party was worth it,” Felicity teased. She loved hearing about Oliver and Tommy’s exploits. Her teenage years were pretty boring in comparison to theirs. When she was sixteen she was already in college and spent most of her free time studying.

Tommy scoffed. “It was totally worth it. Beth Miller kissed me.” He looked out the window wistfully.

Felicity took a bite of her pancakes. “What happened to your pants?”

“I bet him he wouldn’t jump into Max’s pool,” Oliver said.

“That still doesn’t explain what happened to his pants,” Felicity said.

“I took them off before I jumped in,” Tommy said like it was obvious.

“And you forgot to put them back on?” Felicity asked with a laugh.

Tommy’s brow furrowed and his nose scrunched. “No, someone took them – never found out who.”

Felicity knocked her shoulder against Oliver’s. “Was it you?”

Tommy snorted.

“What?” Felicity asked, sitting up.

“Someone took my pants too,” Oliver mumbled.

Tommy laughed and Felicity joined in. “I thought you bet him about getting in the pool.”

“I bet him right back. If I was getting wet, so was he,” Tommy said.

Felicity shivered at the thought of going swimming in December. The Pacific Northwest was temperate, but Starling City was still cold in December. Oliver put his arm around her shoulder and drew her closer into his side. The warmth of his body chased away her imagined chill.

Oliver kissed the side of her head. “Max’s swimming pool was heated,” he explained.

“Being in the water wasn’t bad,” Tommy said. “It wasn’t until we got out that it was freezing.”

“No wonder you got hypothermia,” Felicity said. She had more questions about how Tommy got back to his house without his house keys, but she hesitated to ask a question that might lead to Laurel. The Lance sisters made frequent appearances in Oliver and Tommy’s stories and Laurel was still an open wound between them. Felicity had no intention of poking that wound while Oliver was still upset that Tommy had risked his life to obtain information for him.

“No one ever accused him of being the smart one,” Oliver said with a wink.

“I don’t remember anyone accusing you of being the smart one either,” Tommy said to Oliver.

Oliver smirked. “No, I was the cute one.”

“I was the cute one,” Tommy insisted. “You were the bad boy.”

Felicity looked up at Oliver and grinned at the thought of him in a boy band. “The rebel with the heart of gold.”

Oliver squeezed Felicity’s hand. “You need to be smarter,” he said to Tommy. “I need you to be smarter.”

The smile fell from Tommy’s face. “I was trying to help.”

“I know, but I want you safe. I can’t lose you,” Oliver said.

“I’m sorry I scared you,” Tommy said sincerely.

Oliver’s eyes became glassy and he looked away. His lips pressed together in a thin line and he gave a sharp nod.

“Dig offered to teach me to box. I accepted,” Tommy said with a grin, “but I told him he’s not allowed to hit my face. I make my living with this face.”

Oliver looked at the ceiling like he was praying for patience.

Felicity resumed eating her breakfast as she listened to Oliver and Tommy continue to tease one another. The sound of their laughter was filling the empty spaces in the diner. She was glad Oliver had decided to join them for breakfast. He needed to forgive Tommy as much as Tommy needed his forgiveness. Thea liked to joke that Oliver without Tommy was like peanut butter without jelly. The more time Felicity spent with them, the more she realized Thea was right.

Tommy leaned forward and crooked his finger at Felicity. When she complied, he asked, “Did Ollie ever tell you about the time he stole a penguin?”

“The time _we_ stole a penguin,” Oliver corrected.

“Fine, _we_ stole a penguin,” Tommy said.

Felicity put down her fork. “This I have to hear.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Your kudos and comments are always appreciated.
> 
> This work is not part of my Infinite Love series, but there are some Easter Eggs included for those of you familiar with the series.
> 
> You can also come say hi to me on tumblr. I'm always happy to answer questions about this verse or anything else Arrow. http://realityisoverrated-fic.tumblr.com


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